How To Help Your Baby Sleep Through The Night

For first time parents how to help your baby sleep through the night can be a tiresome problem.

Putting your baby to bed and making them sleep can be exhausting and strenuous.

A good night’s sleep for your baby means a good night’s sleep for you.

With the help of a few tips, you can develop better sleeping habits for your baby and learn how to help your baby sleep through the night.

Help Baby Distinguish Day and Night Time

• Teach your infant to distinguish night from day at the very beginning.
• Interact with your child as much as you can during the day, keep your house brightly lit and do not fret about regular daytime noises such as phone, television, music etc. 
• However, after the sun sets, keep the lighting dim in not just the baby’s room but throughout the house, and lower the noise level.
• Make daytime activities lively and social, while nighttime activities should be calm and quiet.
• This will help in setting up a body clock for your baby.
• Soon enough your baby will be able to differentiate between day and night and will know that night time is associated with sleep while daytime is for activities and playing.

Learn Your Babies Tired Signs

• If your baby is rubbing their eyes and being more irritable than usual then these are signs that your baby is tired and should be put to sleep.
• If you let these signs go unnoticed or miss the opportunity then your baby will become grouchy, overtired and it will be even more difficult for your baby to fall asleep.
• It is important that you stay on lookout for any indication of tiredness and within a few weeks you will develop a sixth sense to tell you when your baby is exhausted and fatigued.

Create a Mellow Daytime

• A good night’s sleep can be achieved if your daytime is spent peacefully.
• Just like adults, babies also find it easier to sleep at night if they had a mellow and relaxing daytime.
• Play with your baby during the day, carry them in your arms or baby slings and you will notice restful and undisturbed sleep cycles at night begin to develop

Bedtime Rituals

• Bedtime rituals can be of great help when it comes to putting your baby to sleep.
• Give your baby a warm bath, or a gentle massage right before bedtime and it will help them unwind and relax leading to better sleep.
• Use a baby lullaby or baby sleep music to create a calm mood.
• Studies also show that babies, who are massaged prior to sleep for fifteen minutes, sleep earlier, easily and for a longer duration.

Let Your Baby Sleep On Their Own

• When your baby is about six to eight weeks old, you should start giving them a chance to fall asleep on their own.
• Put your baby down in bed while they are still awake but sleepy.
• Rocking your baby to sleep early on will lead to a habit being developed in your baby.
• Giving them a chance to sleep on their own can be helpful for both you and your baby in the long run.

Dress Baby For Bed

• Make sure your baby is dressed appropriately for a bedtime.
• An uncomfortable bedtime dress will cause your uneasiness for your baby making it difficult for them to sleep.
• Dress your baby in comfortable and cozy clothing before bedtime to ensure relaxing and peaceful sleep.

Cuddle Up

• If you co-sleep with your baby then comfort them by lying together and cuddling them.
• Pretend to be asleep to let your baby know its bedtime.

Fill Them Up

• Most older babies are so involved in playing and other activities during the day that they can forget to eat.
• This leads to them waking up during night to make up for the lack of food during the day.
• Make sure to feed your baby at least every three hours to reverse this habit.
• Give your baby single full feeding at night when they wake up or they can develop the habit of nibbling throughout the night. 

Why not try a relaxing lullaby for you and baby before and during bedtime to create a calm and peaceful mood? 

Take a listen to the calming lullaby here.